Leaders Should Heed Prophets

ONE BISHOP'S VOICE

The loss of innocence is a terrible moment in life, because the world changes forever. My own story in this regard brings a twinge each October as pre-election rhetoric invades every part of life.

It was a sweltering summer day in the East New York section of Brooklyn where I was working in a program for inner-city children -- one of the few times in my life I did not mind the heat. President Johnson was about to sign the great Civil Rights Act.

The sense of joy and hope this piece of legislation evoked pushed the Vietnam War and many other concerns out of consciousness for a time. America was about to get a long-needed overhaul. It was a moment to believe in our leaders.

Then came shock, pain and terrible confusion. Among the sections that would guarantee basic dignity and fair play to every American was the provision that came like a physical blow. The Congress was exempted from every single provision of the act.

As is all stories of lost innocence, this one includes the older, worldly wise adviser. Mine told me that this was no big deal. He said Congress routinely exempts itself from labor laws and other legislation providing basic decency.

I did not find comfort in this, as characters in such stories never do. This was the beginning of skepticism -- not cynicism -- about those who claim to lead us in Washington. This skepticism places on office-holders and office-seekers alike the burden of proving that they are willing to live by the rules they make for others.

Over the intervening 34 years, little has changed. I have not been surprised to find that Congress continues to exempt itself from its great and small reforms.

It was a jolt years ago, when we learned that Social Security trust funds had been so severely raided and that Congress is exempt from Social Security. Congress has its own pension program which no one has ever raided.

Leona Helmsley secured her place in infamy with the observation: "Only little people pay taxes." No matter which party controls it, Congress seems to have its own version of her attitude.

Whenever I have addressed these concerns to an elected official, the answer has been what it also is to the question of meaningful campaign funding reform: the other party prevents reform. The fact rather seems to be that the Congress does not have the corporate will.

The Hebrew Scriptures criticize unprincipled government: from the prophet Samuel's warnings of what would come with kingship to Ezekiel's denunciation of "false shepherds" who cared for themselves and not the people. During the past few weeks most Christians have been contending with Amos, the Scriptures' sharpest critic of social injustice.

Jesus focused this tradition with his criticism of those who held high office but were not servants of the people. He confronted directly those leaders who "bind heavy burdens but do not lift a finger" to help people bear them. Until Congress sends the people the signal that "we are in this together," politicians will remain the subject of jokes and laments.

Congress lacks moral authority not because of the failings of a drunken senator here or a lecherous representative there. It lacks moral authority in part because it refuses to be held to the standards it sets for others. It also has authority problems because its members, of either party, are so beholden to the monied interests that put them into office; but that is another question.

In a democracy the ultimate responsibility for what the government does rests on the people. It is the obligation of those who hear the message of the prophets to insist that those who govern lead by their example and ready participation. When leaders take that attitude they take a major step in rebuilding their authority.